The Mariachi Miracle

Story by Mark McLemore

last updated August 22, 2014

Listen:

Media Player Error
Update your browser or Flash plugin

"It's like a river - we've been part of this river that's just betting bigger and bigger. Hopefully, 100 years from now, it's still going"
- Los Changuitos Feos trumpeter Jerry Gay, as recorded for the documentary "The Mariachi Miracle".

Fifty years ago, Jerry Gay became the first trumpeter to join Los Changuitos Feos, Tucson's original mariachi youth orchestra.

The group soon became musical ambassadors, and because of the support that members received to continue their educations, it helped create a positive legacy that is thriving five decades later.

Journalist and filmmaker Daniel Buckley calls it "The Mariachi Miracle," which is also the title of a film he is producing that documents the story of Los Changuitos Feos. In this interview, he lays out the early history of the band and how they came to be.

Daniel Buckley promises that audiences will be able to see his documentary film The Mariachi Miracle in Spring of 2016.

Los Changuitos Feos is celebrating 50 years of history with concerts this weekend, including a panel discussion on the history of mariachi music on Friday, an alumni reunion and showcase, and a concert at the Tucson Music Hall on Saturday.

Comment

AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information,
threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are
not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments
in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this
policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments
and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.